Sunday, August 13, 2017

Emperor Wilhelm II, 1909-11.
Though recently repaired, the portrait still shows the marks of five slashes apparently inflicted by Russian soldiers at the end of World War II.

The first grandchild of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, "Willy" suffered a birth injury that permanently damaged his left arm; many believe his disability, and others' reaction to it, severely affected his psychology. He was further warped by his early indoctrination into the all-pervasive Prussian military milieu, and manipulated by politicians who were opposed to the liberal ideas of his father, and who encouraged his increasingly arrogant and pompous behavior. He was eventually alienated from his parents, directing his anger and spite at his mother, especially. As an adult, he was decidedly a poseur, rarely appearing out of military uniform, and presenting himself in portraits as the personification of the most bombastic and bellicose form of kingship. Callous and vindictive, petty and dictatorial, fairly humorless, meddling. Oh, and World War I.

The painting before restoration. The central arch of the colonnade of the Communs, Neues Palais, Potsdam, can be seen in the background.

A finished sketch for the full-length portrait, 1909.

Two sketches for the portrait, circa 1908-11. Here, in the background,
the Communs is shown from the same angle as in the photograph below.

In the studio: the artist, the horse, one of the artist's sons, and the unfinished painting, 1911.
At this stage, the building in the background still looks to be a view of a wing of the Communs rather than the colonnade.

Sketch of the borzoi included in the painting, though reversed. In the smaller sketch to the right of the dog, here, one can make out the
Emperor and the horse in the same configuration as in the final painting, but the dog - as here - is in a reversed position. Circa 1908-10.

Reference photograph with sketch of the horse's head and the dog in its originally planned position. As in the finished painting,
the Communs of the Neues Palais can be seen in the background, though viewed from a different perspective.

Reference photograph. The Emperor is posed on the terrace of the Neues Palais, Potsdam.

1908.

1908.

***

King Carol II of Romania, 1936.

A great-grandchild of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, Carol grew up under the control of his great-uncle King Carol I, who spoiled the child and, at the same time, instilled a "profound love of German militarism". He also largely excluded the boy's parents from any role in his upbringing; Carol would eventually become alienated from his parents, especially his mother the vivacious, flamboyant Queen Marie. Lazy and apathetic, from his teenage years he became known for his romantic misadventures. At the age of twenty-four, second in line to the throne, he abandoned his army post in order to marry a commoner. The marriage was annulled seven months later, though the couple continued to live together; they even had a child the following year. Only a year later, he made a properly dynastic marriage to Princess Helen of Greece. (A second cousin and also a great-grandchild of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.) Their only son was born soon after, but the marriage quickly soured, due to Carol's playboy lifestyle, his drinking and womanizing. Then he took up with the infamous Elena Lupescu, who would be his mistress (and finally wife) for the rest of his life, and Helen was finally compelled to divorce him in 1928. Before that, in 1925, because of his relationship with Lupescu, Carol had renounced his right to the throne in favor of his son and had gone to live in Paris with his mistress. Two years later, Carol's father died and his five year old son was proclaimed king. But only three years, later Carol returned to Romania in a coup d'état and took the throne from the boy. Inflicting many petty cruelties on his former wife and alienating his son, indulging in a sybaritic lifestyle, Carol managed to weather the vagaries of Romania politics and the encroachment of Hitler for ten years; it helped that he had a complete lack of scruples. But he was deposed in 1940, and Michael once again became king. Carol and Luspescu went into exile, first in Mexico, then settling permanently in Portugal.

Friday, August 11, 2017

The Rose or "Ozerki" (lakes) Pavilion in the Lugovoi (meadow) Park at Peterhof was designed by Andrei Ivanovich Stakenschneider and constructed in 1845-1848, specifically for the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, one of several lakeside follies at Peterhof that the architect created for the pleasure of Tsar Nicholas I and his family. While several of the other pavilions destroyed by the Germans during World War II have been restored/reconstructed, this one has not.

Sunday, August 6, 2017

Jean-Gabriel Domergue (4 March 1889, Bordeaux - 16 November 1962, Paris), French painter specializing in - often very erotic - fantasy portraits of Parisian women. Domergue was born in Bordeaux and studied at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts. In 1906, at the age of seventeen, he exhibited works at the Salon des Artistes Français. In 1913, he was awarded the second prize in the Prix de Rome and went on to win the gold medal in 1920. Having first been recognized for his landscapes, his career took a decisive turn during the 1920’s. From that time onward he concentrated on portraits, most of his clientele from among the aristocracy and high society. And with the erotic portraits of a generic "parisienne" for which he is most famous, he claimed to be the inventor of "the pin-up". From 1955 until 1962 he was the curator of the Musée Jacquemart-André, organising exhibitions of the works of Van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec, Goya, and others. He was named a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur and Fellow of the Academy of Fine Arts. He died in Paris at the age of seventy-three.

Portrait of Fernande Cabanel, 1920.

Élégante aux plumes, 1920.

Le Rouge à lèvres, 1918 or 1919.

Trois baigneuses à la boule fleurie, 1931.

À l'ombre d'une jeune fille en fleur, 1922.

Le Peintre et ses modèles, 1931.

The beautiful figure here must certainly have been posed by Joséphine Baker, whose portrait the artist painted on several occasions.

Woman in Black in Venice, 1919.

Femme en noire, 1919.

Elegant Venetian Lady with a Cigarette (Princess Ruspoli), 1918.

Couple dans une gondole au clair de lune, 1913.

Versailles, élégante près du bassin, 1916.

Study for the above painting.

Vénitienne au Châle, 1919.

Design for a fan, 1921.

Portrait of Mlle. Spinelly, used as cover art for an issue of L'Illustration, 1922.

Advertisement, 1928.

Portrait of the comtesse du Bourg de Bozas, used in an advertisement for Cadillac, 1928.

Portrait de Madame O, reproduced in L'Illustration, 1928.

Portrait of Madame O'Deril, 1930.

Le Carosse, ou La Princesse Ruspoli au carrosse, 1920.

Eve Looking in the Mirror, circa 1920.

Femme aux lévriers (Woman with greyhounds, though, as has been mentioned elsewhere, they are actually borzois), 1930.

About Me

Stephen O'Donnell, painter and singer/performer. A mid-career fine artist, I have been showing professionally since 1995. Married to author and graphic designer Gigi Little, with whom I occasionally perform a mother and daughter singing act, Madeleine and Penny Prévert.